Acts 20:33

Act 20:33-35. I have coveted no man’s silver, &c. — Here the apostle begins another branch of his farewell discourse, in terms like those of old Samuel, taking his leave of the children of Israel, 1Sa 12:8. As if he had said, I have a testimony in my own conscience and in yours, that I have not directed my ministry to any mercenary views of pleasing any, how distinguished soever their circumstances might be, nor sought by any methods to enrich myself among you. Yea, ye yourselves know, that — Far from having any secular or worldly designs in preaching the gospel; these hands — Callous as you see with labour; have ministered to my necessities — Have procured me food and raiment, and even have assisted in supporting them that were with me — Who is he that envies such a bishop or archbishop as this? I have showed you — Elders or bishops, by my example; all things — And this among the rest; that so labouring — So far as the labours of your office allow you time; ye ought to support the weak — Or to assist in supporting them, namely, those who are disabled by sickness, or any bodily infirmity, from maintaining themselves by their own labour. And to remember — Effectually, so as to follow them; the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said — When he conversed with his disciples; It is more blessed to give than to receive — To imitate God, and have him, as it were, indebted to us. This is a true and precious monument of apostolical tradition, which, by being written in this authentic memoir, is happily preserved. Without doubt, his disciples remembered many of his words which are not recorded.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 20:33. Ἀργυρίου, silver) The second portion of his parting address. Paul brings forth all things. So Samuel, 1Sa 12:3.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_20:33-35. Paul concludes his address, so rich in its simplicity and deeply impressive, by urging on the presbyters the complete disinterestedness and self-denial, with which he had laboured at Ephesus, as a τύπος (2Th_3:9) for similar conduct. Comp. 1Co_9:4 ff.; 2Co_11:7 ff; 2Co_12:14 ff.; 2Th_3:8 ff. Reason for this: not the obviating of a Judaistic reproach (Olshausen), not a guarding of the independence of the church in the world (Baumgarten); but the necessity of the ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι τῶν ἀσθενούντων, Act_20:35.

ἀργ. ἢ χρυσ. ἢ ἱματ.] specification of what are usually esteemed the most valuable temporal possessions. Comp. Jam_5:2-3.

αὐτοί] without my needing to say it to you.

καὶ τοῖς οὖσι μετʼ ἐμοῦ] Thus also for his companions, to their necessities, he applied the gain of his manual labour.

αὗται] he shows them, and certainly they were not soft and tender.

πάντα[115] ὙΠΈΔΕΙΞΑ ὙΜῖΝ, ὍΤΙ] either in all points (1Co_10:33; see on Eph_4:15; Lobeck, ad Aj. 1402; Kühner, § 557 A. 4) I have shown to you (by my example) that; or, all things I have showed to you (by my example) in reference to this, that, etc. (ὅτι = εἰς ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι, as in Joh_2:18; Joh_9:17; 2Co_1:18; Mar_16:14, et al.). The former is simpler.

οὕτω] so labouring, as I have done, so toiling hard (comp. 1Co_4:12). Not: my fellow-labourers in the gospel (Klostermann), which, at variance with the context, withdraws from οὕτως its significance. It is the example-giving οὕτως. Comp. 1Co_9:24; 1Co_9:26; Php_3:17.

ΤῶΝ ἈΣΘΕΝΟΎΝΤΩΝ] is, with Erasmus, Calvin, Beza, Grotius, Calovius, Er. Schmid, Bengel, and others, including Neander, Tholuck, Schneckenburger, Baumgarten, to be explained of those not yet confirmed in Christian principles and dispositions. Comp. Rom_14:1; Rom_15:1; 1Co_9:22; 1Th_5:14; 2Co_11:21. These might easily consider the work of one teaching for pay as a mere matter of gain, and thus be prejudiced not only against the teacher, but also against the doctrine, 1Co_9:12. But if, on the other hand, the teacher gained his livelihood by labour, by such self-devotion he obviated the fall of the unsettled, and was helpful to the strengthening of their faith and courage (comp. 2Co_12:14). This is that ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι τῶν ἀσθενούντων, in which Paul wished to serve as a model to other teachers and ecclesiastical rulers. Others (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theopbylact, et al., including Wetstein, Heinrichs, Kuinoel, Olshausen, de Wette, Hackett) render it: that they should help the poor and needy by support (comp. Eph_4:28); which meaning would have to be derived not from the usus loquendi of ἀσθεν. taken by itself, but, with Kuinoel (qui non possunt laborando sibi ad vitam tuendam necessaria comparare), from the context. Comp. Arist. Pac. 636; Eur. Suppl. 433; Herod. ii. 88. See Valckenaer, ad Herod. viii. 51; and Raphel, Herod, in loc. But the recommendation of liberality is remote from the context; the faithfulness and wisdom of the teacher manifesting itself in gaining his own support by labour, of which the text speaks, must have a spiritual object, like the teaching office itself (1Co_9:12)not the giving of alms, but the strengthening of the weak in faith. The more naturally this meaning occurs, the less would Paul, if he had nevertheless meant the poor, have expressed himself by ἀσθενούντων, but rather by ΠΤΩΧῶΝ or a similar word.

ΜΝΗΜΟΝΕΎΕΙΝ … ΛΑΜΒΆΝΕΙΝ] and to be mindful of the saying of the Lord Jesus (namely) that He Himself has said: It is blessed (i.e. bliss-giving; the action itself according to its moral nature, similarly to the knowing in Joh_18:3, is conceived as the blessedness of the agent) rather (potius) to give than to receive. The two being compared, not the latter, but rather the former, is the μακάριον. The special application of this general saying of Christ is, according to the connection in the mind of the apostle, that the giving of spiritual benefits, compared with the taking of earthly gain as pay, has the advantage in conferring blessedness; and the μακαριότης itself is that of eternal life according to the idea of the Messianic recompense, Luk_6:20 ff., Luk_6:38; Luk_14:14.

The explanatory ὍΤΙ, dependent on ΜΝΗΜΟΝ., adduces out of the general class of ΤῶΝ ΛΌΓ. Τ. ΚΥΡ. a single saying (comp. Act_15:15), instead of all bearing on the point.

Whether Paul derived this saying, not preserved in the Gospels (see on the dicta ἄγραφα of Christ, Fabric. Cod. Apocr. N.T. pp. 321335; Ewald, Jahrb. VI. 40 f., and Gesch. Chr. p. 288), from oral or written tradition, remains undecided.

References to the same saying: Constitt. ap. iv. 3.Acts 1 : ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ Κύριος μακάριον εἶπεν εἶναι τὸν διδόντα ἤπερ τὸν λαμβάνοντα, perhaps also Clem. 1 Corinthians 2 : ἥδιον διδόντες ἢ λαμβάνοντες. Analogous profane sayings (Artemidor. iv. 3) may be seen in Wetstein. The opposite: ἈΝΌΗΤΟς Ὁ ΔΙΔΟῪς, ΕὐΤΥΧῊς Δʼ Ὁ ΛΑΜΒΆΝΩΝ, in Athen. viii. 5.

[115] Lachmann, whom Klostermann follows, refers πάντα to ver. 34, as Beza already proposed. But if so, Paul, in ver. 24, would evidently have said too much, especially on account of καὶ τοῖς οὖσι μετʼ ἐμοῦ.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 20:33 . cf. 1Sa 12:3 , ἱματ ., frequent in LXX, in N.T. only in Luke and Paul (except Joh 19:24 , quotation); Luk 7:25 ; Luk 9:29 , 1Ti 2:9 . In 1Ma 11:24 we have silver, gold and raiment, joined together as in this verse, describing Eastern riches, cf. Jas 5:2-3 . ἐπεθ ., “he takes away that which is the root of all evil, the love of money”; be says not “I have not taken,” but “not even coveted ” Chrys., Hom. , xlv.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pastors must before all things beware of covetousness.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 33. I have coveted no man's silver, c.] And from this circumstance they would be able to discover the grievous wolves, and the perverters for these had nothing but their own interests in view; whereas the genuine disciples of Christ neither coveted nor had worldly possessions. St. Paul's account of his own disinterestedness is very similar to that given by Samuel of his, 1Sa 12:3-5.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

33. I have not. As he showed of late what an hurtful plague ambition is; so now he showeth that they must beware of covetousness, [avarice] and he maketh himself an example again, even in this point, that he did covet no man’s goods; but did rather get his living with the work of his hands. Not that it was sufficient to find him without some help, but because in applying his handy-work, he spared the churches, that he might not be too chargeable to them, so much as in him lay. We must note, that he doth not only deny that he did take anything violently, as hungry fellows do importunately wring out preys oftentimes, but also he affirmeth that he was clean from all wicked desire. Whence we gather, that no man can be a good minister of the word, but he must also contemn money. And surely we see that nothing is more common, than that those corrupt the word of God, to win the favor of men, who are altogether filthily given to get gain. Which vice Paul doth sharply condemn in bishops elsewhere, (1 Timothy 3:3).

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(33) I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.—Comp. the parallel of Samuel’s appeal to the people (1Sa_12:3). In each case there was a special reason for what might otherwise seem an uncalled-for boast. Samuel’s sons had been guilty of corrupt practices, taking bribes and the like (1Sa_8:3). Among the many calumnies against St. Paul, one was that he used his apostolic ministry “as a cloke of covetousness.” (Comp. 2Co_7:2; 2Co_12:17-18; 1Th_2:5.) On “apparel,” as constituting a large part of the personal estate of the East, see Notes on Mat_6:19; Jas_5:2.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. I have coveted] Rev. Ver. “I coveted.” But this seems unnecessary. The Apostle implies that the state of mind was his when he was with them and continues still.

apparel] In which Oriental wealth largely consisted. Hence Naaman brings “changes of raiment” as well as money among the rewards which he expects to give for his cure (2Ki_5:5), and the same may be noticed in many other parts of the Scripture history. Cp. Gen_24:53; Gen_45:22; 2Ki_7:3, &c.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they all wept sore,.... At the thoughts of parting with such a faithful and affectionate friend and servant of Christ; and no doubt but their affections were greatly moved by his prayers for them, as well as by his discourse to them. Christians are not Stoics, religion does not take away and destroy the natural affections, but regulates and governs them, and directs to a right use of them:

and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him; as Esau fell on Jacob's neck and kissed him, Gen 33:4 and Joseph on his brother Benjamin's, and his father Jacob's, Gen 45:14. And it was usual with the eastern nations, particularly the Persians (l), for friends and relations to kiss at parting, as well as at meeting; see Rut 1:9.

(l) Xenophon. Cyclopedia, l. 1. c. 20.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

33 I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.

Ver. 33. I have coveted no man’s, &c.] Non opes, non gloriam, non voluptates quaesivi, &c. Hanc conscientiam aufero quocunque discedo, said Melancthon. (Melch. Adam.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I have coveted - I have not desired. I have not made it an object of my living among you to obtain your property. Thus, 2Co 12:14 he says, “I seek not yours, but you.” Paul had power to demand support in the, ministry as the reward of his labor, 1Co 9:13-14. Yet he did not choose to exercise it, lest it should bring the charge of avarice against the ministry, 1Co 9:12, 1Co 9:15. He also had power in another respect. He had a vast influence over the people. The early Christians were disposed to commit their property to the disposal of the apostles. See Act 4:34-35, Act 4:37. The pagan had been accustomed to devote their property to the support of religion. Of this propensity, if the object of Paul had been to make money, he might have availed himself, and have become enriched. Deceivers often thus impose upon people for the purpose of amassing wealth; and one of the incidental but striking proofs of the truth of the Christian religion is here furnished in the appeal which the apostle Paul made to his hearers, that this had not been his motive. If it had been, how easy would it have been for them to have contradicted him! And who, in such circumstances, would have dared to make such an appeal? The circumstances of the case, therefore, prove that the object of the apostle was not to amass wealth. And this fact is an important proof of the truth of the religion which he defended. What should have induced him to labor and toil in this manner but a conviction of the truth of Christianity? And if he really believed it was true, it is, in his circumstances, a strong proof that this religion is from heaven. See this proof stated in Faber’s “Difficulties of Infidelity,” and in Lord Lyttleton’s “Letter on the Conversion of Paul.”

Or apparel - Raiment. Changes of raiment among the ancients, as at present among the Orientals, constituted an important part of their property. See the notes on Mat 6:19.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Having spoken of the heavenly inheritance, he tells them how willing he was to have his reward hereafter, and to waive receiving his wages here. In this, St. Paul imitates Moses, Num 16:15, and Samuel, 1Sa 12:3,5.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

33. No man’s silver—Cicero in very glowing terms describes the virtue of his brother, who was governor of an Asiatic province: “Wonderful it is that when you possessed absolute power for three years in Asia, no statuary, no picture, no vase, no garment, no slave, no beauty of any one, no inducement of money, could sway you from your integrity and purity.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Coveted for have coveted, A.V. Apparel. One of the items of an Oriental"s treasure for the purpose of gifts. (2Ki_5:5, 2Ki_5:22, 2Ki_5:23, 2Ki_5:26; Gen_45:22; Mat_6:19) St. Paul contrasts his own example in not seeking such gifts with the conduct of the false apostles who draw away disciples after them for gain. (1Ti_6:5-10; Rom_16:17, Rom_16:18; comp. 1Co 9)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I have coveted - Here the apostle begins the other branch of his farewell discourse, like old Samuel, 1 Sam. xii, 3, taking his leave of the children of Israel.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Acts

PARTING COUNSELS

THE FIGHT WITH WILD BEASTS AT EPHESUS

Act 19:21 - Act 19:34.

Paul’s long residence in Ephesus indicates the importance of the position. The great wealthy city was the best possible centre for evangelising all the province of Asia, and that was to a large extent effected during the Apostle’s stay there. But he had a wider scheme in his mind. His settled policy was always to fly at the head, as it were. The most populous cities were his favourite fields, and already his thoughts were travelling towards the civilised world’s capital, the centre of empire-Rome. A blow struck there would echo through the world. Paul had his plan, and God had His, and Paul’s was not realised in the fashion he had meant, but it was realised in substance. He did not expect to enter Rome as a prisoner. God shaped the ends which Paul had only rough-hewn.

The programme in Act 19:21 - Act 19:22 was modified by circumstances, as some people would say; Paul would have said, by God. The riot hastened his departure from Ephesus. He did go to Jerusalem, and he did see Rome, but the chain of events that drew him there seemed to him, at first sight, the thwarting, rather than the fulfilment, of his long-cherished hope. Well it is for us to carry all our schemes to God, and to leave them in His hands.

The account of the riot is singularly vivid and lifelike. It reveals a new phase of antagonism to the Gospel, a kind of trades-union demonstration, quite unlike anything that has met us in the Acts. It gives a glimpse into the civic life of a great city, and shows demagogues and mob to be the same in Ephesus as in England. It has many points of interest for the commentator or scholar, and lessons for all. Luke tells the story with a certain dash of covert irony.

We have, first, the protest of the shrine-makers’ guild or trades-union, got up by the skilful manipulation of Demetrius. He was evidently an important man in the trade, probably well-to-do. As his speech shows, he knew exactly how to hit the average mind. The small shrines which he and his fellow-craftsmen made were of various materials, from humble pottery to silver, and were intended for ‘votaries to dedicate in the temple,’ and represented the goddess Artemis sitting in a niche with her lions beside her. Making these was a flourishing industry, and must have employed a large number of men and much capital. Trade was beginning to be slack, and sales were falling off. No doubt there is exaggeration in Demetrius’s rhetoric, but the meeting of the craft would not have been held unless a perceptible effect had been produced by Paul’s preaching. Probably Demetrius and the rest were more frightened than hurt; but men are very quick to take alarm when their pockets are threatened.

The speech is a perfect example of how self-interest masquerades in the garb of pure concern for lofty objects, and yet betrays itself. The danger to ‘our craft’ comes first, and the danger to the ‘magnificence’ of the goddess second; but the precedence given to the trade is salved over by a ‘not only,’ which tries to make the religious motive the chief. No doubt Demetrius was a devout worshipper of Artemis, and thought himself influenced by high motives in stirring up the craft. It is natural to be devout or moral or patriotic when it pays to be so. One would not expect a shrine-maker to be easily accessible to the conviction that ‘they be no gods which are made with hands.’

Such admixture of zeal for some great cause, with a shrewd eye to profit, is very common, and may deceive us if we are not always watchful. Jehu bragged about his ‘zeal for the Lord’ when it urged him to secure himself on the throne by murder; and he may have been quite honest in thinking that the impulse was pure, when it was really mingled. How many foremost men in public life everywhere pose as pure patriots, consumed with zeal for national progress, righteousness, etc., when all the while they are chiefly concerned about some private bit of log-rolling of their own! How often in churches there are men professing to be eager for the glory of God, who are, perhaps half-unconsciously, using it as a stalking-horse, behind which they may shoot game for their own larder! A drop of quicksilver oxidises and dims as soon as exposed to the air. The purest motives get a scum on them quickly unless we constantly keep them clear by communion with God.

Demetrius may teach us another lesson. His opposition to Paul was based on the plain fact that, if Paul’s teaching prevailed, no more shrines would be wanted. That was a new ground of opposition to the Gospel, resembled only by the motive for the action of the owners of the slave girl at Philippi; but it is a perennial source of antagonism to it. In our cities especially there are many trades which would be wiped out if Christ’s laws of life were universally adopted. So all the purveyors of commodities and pleasures which the Gospel forbids a Christian man to use are arrayed against it. We have to make up our minds to face and fight them. A liquor-seller, for instance, is not likely to look complacently on a religion which would bring his ‘trade into disrepute’; and there are other occupations which would be gone if Christ were King, and which therefore, by the instinct of self-preservation, are set against the Gospel, unless, so to speak, its teeth are drawn.

According to one reading, the shouts of the craftsmen which told that Demetrius had touched them in the tenderest part, their pockets, was an invocation, ‘Great Diana!’ not a profession of faith; and we have a more lively picture of an excited crowd if we adopt the alteration. It is easy to get a mob to yell out a watchword, whether religious or political; and the less they understand it, the louder are they likely to roar. In Athanasius’ days the rabble of Constantinople made the city ring with cries, degrading the subtlest questions as to the Trinity, and examples of the same sort have not been wanting nearer home. It is criminal to bring such incompetent judges into religious or political or social questions, it is cowardly to be influenced by them. ‘The voice of the people’ is not always ‘the voice of God.’ It is better to ‘be in the right with two or three’ than to swell the howl of Diana’s worshippers,

II. A various reading of Act 19:28 gives an additional particular, which is of course implied in the received text, but makes the narrative more complete and vivid if inserted.

It adds that the craftsmen rushed ‘into the street,’ and there raised their wild cry, which naturally ‘filled’ the city with confusion. So the howling mob, growing larger and more excited every minute, swept through Ephesus, and made for the theatre, the common place of assembly.

On their road they seem to have come across two of Paul’s companions, whom they dragged with them. What they meant to do with the two they had probably not asked themselves. A mob has no plans, and its most savage acts are unpremeditated. Passion let loose is almost sure to end in bloodshed, and the lives of Gaius and Aristarchus hung by a thread. A gust of fury storming over the mob, and a hundred hands might have torn them to atoms, and no man have thought himself their murderer.

What a noble contrast to the raging crowd the silent submission, no doubt accompanied by trustful looks to Heaven and unspoken prayers, presents! And how grandly Paul comes out! He had not been found, probably had not been sought for, by the rioters, whose rage was too blind to search for him, but his brave soul could not bear to leave his friends in peril and not plant himself by their sides. So he ‘was minded to enter in unto the people,’ well knowing that there he had to face more ferocious ‘wild beasts’ than if a cageful of lions had been loosed on him. Faith in God and fellowship with Christ lift a soul above fear of death. The noblest kind of courage is not that born of flesh or temperament, or of the madness of battle, but that which springs from calm trust in and absolute surrender to Christ.

Not only did the disciples restrain Paul as feeling that if the shepherd were smitten the sheep would be scattered, but interested friends started up in an unlikely quarter. The ‘chief of Asia’ or Asiarchs, who sent to dissuade him, ‘were the heads of the imperial political-religious organisation of the province, in the worship of “Rome and the emperors”; and their friendly attitude is a proof both that the spirit of the imperial policy was not as yet hostile to the new teaching, and that the educated classes did not share the hostility of the superstitious vulgar’ {Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller, p. 281}. It is probable that, in that time of crumbling faith and religious unrest, the people who knew most about the inside of the established worship believed in it least, and in their hearts agreed with Paul that ‘they be no gods which are made with hands.’

So we have in these verses the central picture of calm Christian faith and patient courage, contrasted on the one hand with the ferocity and excitement of heathen fanatical devotees, and on the other with the prudent regard to their own safety of the Asiarchs, who had no such faith in Diana as to lead them to joining the rioters, nor such faith in Paul’s message as to lead them to oppose the tumult, or to stand by his side, but contented themselves with sending to warn him. Who can doubt that the courage of the Christians is infinitely nobler than the fury of the mob or the cowardice of the Asiarchs, kindly as they were? If they were his friends, why did they not do something to shield him? ‘A plague on such backing!’

III. The scene in the theatre, to which Luke returns in Act 19:32, is described with a touch of scorn for the crowd, who mostly knew not what had brought them together.

One section of it kept characteristically cool and sharp-eyed for their own advantage. A number of Jews had mingled in it, probably intending to fan the flame against the Christians, if they could do it safely. As in so many other cases in Acts, common hatred brought Jew and Gentile together, each pocketing for the time his disgust with the other. The Jews saw their opportunity. Half a dozen cool heads, who know what they want, can often sway a mob as they will. Alexander, whom they ‘put forward,’ was no doubt going to make a speech disclaiming for the Jews settled in Ephesus any connection with the obnoxious Paul. We may be very sure that his ‘defence’ was of the former, not of the latter.

But the rioters were in no mood to listen to fine distinctions among the members of a race which they hated so heartily. Paul was a Jew, and this man was a Jew; that was enough. So the roar went up again to Great Diana, and for two long hours the crowd surged and shouted themselves hoarse, Gaius and Aristarchus standing silent all the while and expecting every moment to be their last. The scene reminds one of Baal’s priests shrieking to him on Carmel. It is but too true a representation of the wild orgies which stand for worship in all heathen religions. It is but too lively an example of what must always happen when excited crowds are ignorantly stirred by appeals to prejudice or self-interest.

The more democratic the form of government under which we live, the more needful is it to distinguish the voice of the people from the voice of the mob, and to beware of exciting, or being governed by, clamour however loud and long.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the conclusion of St. Paul’s discourse to the elders of the church at Ephesus, he vindicates himself from the sordid sin of covetousness, affirming, that he had coveted no man’s silver or gold; but by the labour of his hands had maintained himself, and them that were with him.

Where note, That it is not simply unlawful for a minister of the gospel to labour with his hands, for his own and his family’s support, when the poverty of the members of the church is such that they cannot maintain him without it.

Observe farther, He directs these elders to labour as he did, if the case required it with them, as it did with him, that they might, by labouring as he, be in a capacity to support the weak, and relieve the poor.

Yet note, He doth not propose this his practice as a precept, or precedent, or rule, to all ministers; for though St. Paul laboured with his hands in a case of necessity, and because false teachers were watching all advantages against him, yet he often declares a right and privilege which he had to be maintained by the church, without labouring with his hands for his own livelihood and subsistence; nay, asserts it to be the ordination and appointment of God himself, That they which preach the gospel, should live of the gospel.

Observe lastly, A remarkable saying of our blessed Saviour, not recorded by the evangelists, but undoubtedly spoken by him; namely, That it is more blessed to give than to receive. That is, the condition of the giver is more desirable than that of the receiver, and giving is more commendable than receiving.

1. The condition of the giver is more desirable than that of the receiver, because,

1. Giving is a sign of sufficiency and power. He that gives to another, is supposed to be well provided himself; he that gives, looks like a full being, and like a swelling river, whereas, receiving implies want and weakness, emptiness, and unsatisfied desires.

Because giving includes choice; for what a man parts with to another, he has a freedom to keep himself; but the receiver is not to be his own carver, but must depend upon the courtesy of his neighbours.

2. Because the condition of the giver implies an honourable trust committed to him by God Almighty. Givers are God’s almoners and stewards, the poor’s guardians and patrons. An honourable trust this is, by which the lives and livelihood of the poor are in a manner committed to us. by all which it appears, that the condition of the giver is more desirable than that of the receiver.

Note, 2. That giving is more commendable than receiving; it is a clearer evidence of a noble and virtuous disposition of mind: for,

1. It is a sign of our victory over the world, and that our conversation is in heaven; that we have worthy apprehensions of God, and honourable thoughts of his providence; and that we can trust him, and give him a part of his own whenever he calls for it.

2. Giving is better than receiving, because there is a more lasting pleasure in giving than in receiving: an alms taken is soon spent and forgotten, and the pleasure of it is over in two or three moments; but the pleasure of giving bears us company all along in this world, and will keep us company in the next: there is no such satisfactory pleasure as in doing good, Let us then often remember, and always put in practice, the words of our Lord Jesus, which he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33-35. Here Paul protests to the Ephesian elders his felicitous salvation from paltry pelf, asseverating that he had toiled with his hands making tents, not only for his own temporal support, but that of his evangelistic helpers and the Lord’s poor. Paul is clear in his deliverances on ministerial support as a right of the preacher and a duty of the people. Yet he is ever and anon explicit, along with Jesus, in his denunciations of a hireling ministry, who really turn out to be those “grievous wolves” lacerating, scattering and destroying the flock, and Ezekiel’s unfaithful shepherds, clothing themselves in the wool and devouring the fat, reveling in their tents while their flocks are “scattered on every hill and in every deep valley,” invaded by wild beasts and robbers. Here Paul reminds them of the words of the Lord Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” thus winding up that memorable valedictory to the greatest church in Western Asia through their representatives.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 28

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Connecting Statement:

Paul finishes speaking to the elders of the church of Ephesus; he began to speak them in Acts 20:18.

I coveted no man's silver

"I did not desire someone's silver" or "I did not want for myself anyone's silver"

man's silver, gold, or clothing

Clothing was considered a treasure; the more you had, the richer you were.

You yourselves

The word "yourselves" is used here to add emphasis. (See: Reflexive Pronouns)

these hands served my own needs

The word "hands" here represents the entire person. AT: "I worked to earn money and pay for my own expenses" (See: Synecdoche)

you should help the weak by working

"you should work so as to have money to help people who cannot earn it for themselves"

the weak

You can state this nominal adjective as an adjective. AT: "weak persons" or "those who are weak" (See: Nominal Adjectives)

weak

"sick"

the words of the Lord Jesus

Here "words" refers to what Jesus has said. (See: Metonymy)

It is more blessed to give than to receive

This means a person receives the favor of God and experiences more joy when he gives to other people rather than always receiving from other people.

translationWords

envy

silver

gold

word

lord

Jesus

bless

receive

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

33. ἱματισμοῦ, apparel. In which Oriental wealth largely consisted. Hence Naaman brings ‘changes of raiment’ as well as money among the rewards which he expects to give for his cure (2Ki 5:5), and the value attached to changes of raiment may be noticed in many other parts of the Scripture history. Cf. Gen 24:53; Gen 45:22; 2Ki 7:8, &c. Cf. ‘Teaching of the Twelve Apostles’ § 13.

ἱματισμός is frequent in the LXX. Cf. 1Sa 27:9; 1Ki 22:30; and in 1Ma 11:24 we find λαβὼν ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον καὶ ἱματισμὸν ἐπορεύθη πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, where there are put together the three classes of Eastern riches exactly as in this verse.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33.] See 1Sa 12:3; and for similar avowals by Paul himself, 1Co 9:11, 1Co 9:12; 2Co 11:8, 2Co 11:9; 2Co 12:13.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Raiment. Mentioned along with gold and silver because it formed a large part of the wealth of orientals. They traded in costly garments, or kept them stored up for future use. See on purple, Luk 16:19; and compare Ezr 2:69; Neh 7:70; Job 27:16. This fact accounts for the allusions to the destructive power of the moth (Mt 6:19; Jas 5:2).

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.